Lishui plant · Zhejiang · opened on 30 September 2026

Lishui spear plant A plant built for keg spears.

16,000spears a day, maximum capacity

2fully automatic assembly lines, for type A and type S

74CNC machines in machining

7machines for leak testing

Tour

What is different in the new plant

01CNC and welding
Six fully automatic CNC lines and one conventional line, two automatic welding lines and six manual welding stations.

02Electropolishing line
Fully automatic and with its own material store, for smooth surfaces along the beer path.

03Clean assembly
Assembly and final inspection in a separate, clean area with its own component store.

04Fully automatic assembly for type A and type S
One fully automatic line for each, plus three semi-automatic lines. The spear comes out fully assembled.

Keg necks are made at the Ruian plant, keg couplers in Ruian and Lishui.

Automatic assembly station for spears — Automatic assembly machine, Lishui plant

Laser head cutting a stainless steel tube, the material glowing at the cutting point — Laser cutting a down tube

Production hall with machining equipment at the Lishui plant — Production hall

Production entrance with automated guided vehicles — Production entrance, automated guided vehicles

Building with AOBAOSI lettering — Production hall 2

Wire mesh box with individual parts — Individual parts before cleaning

Architectural visualisation of the plant — Architectural visualisation of the Lishui plant

Plant layout

Three buildings, one path from tube to spear.

The Lishui plant consists of two production buildings and one administration building. There is also a dormitory with canteen for the workforce and a showroom with all products.

22,000m² production building 1

21,000m² production building 2

5,000m² administration

3 + 2assembly lines: 3 semi-automatic and 2 fully automatic

Building 1

Raw material and pre-production

Every spear starts here. With its own drop forge, AOBAOSI is one of the few spear manufacturers that make their forged parts in-house.

Tube stock store
Drop forge, e.g. for parts of type A and G spears
Laser cutting
Stamping
Toolmaking
Tube forming
Tube welding

Building 2 · Ground floor

Precision machining

CNC, welding and automatic material flow.

6 fully automatic CNC lines
1 conventional CNC line
2 automatic welding lines
6 manual welding stations
AI-controlled store for semi-finished parts with automated guided vehicles

Building 2 · Second floor

Surface, assembly, packaging

From polished part to spear ready for dispatch.

Fully automatic electropolishing line with its own material store
Component store and clean assembly
Fully automatic assembly lines for type A and type S
3 semi-automatic assembly lines
Packing the finished goods

Visualisation of the showroom at the Lishui plant with product wall and meeting table — The showroom at the Lishui plant (visualisation). Visitors can see all products here, and a tour on the third floor leads through production.

Digital manufacturing

Paperless at the machine, traceable back to the order.

The aim is a plant in which every step is documented and everyone can see how the work is done correctly.

ESOP

Electronic work instructions

Instead of paper, terminals at every workstation show work instructions, process standards and quality records in real time.

Uniform processes
Transparency for every shift

ERP

End-to-end traceability

A continuous ERP system links all steps from order to finished part.

Order management
Production planning
Material control
Warehouse management
Production tracking

MES

Production control from December

A manufacturing execution system is due to go into operation in December 2026.

Energy consumption in real time
Live production progress
Equipment status in real time
Recording and analysis of quality data

History

From the neck to its own spear plant

1995Founding

1998Production of keg necks

2012ISO 9001

2026Lishui plant opens, 30 September

Opening · Lishui plant

Opened on 30 September 2026.

Red parasols against the midday sun, confetti over the stage, then the first tour of the halls.

More than 80 invited guests came to Lishui for the opening, and almost all of them took the opportunity of a guided tour of the new plant. Joost Samyn, who heads international sales at AOBAOSI, led the groups through the halls and explained the equipment to partners and customers, from CNC machining to the fully automatic assembly lines.

The guests included well-known keg manufacturers, familiar names from keg and spear service and refurbishment, as well as trade partners and keg lessors.

Ceremony in front of the administration building

The moment of the opening

Entrance to production

Tour of the machining area

Machines

Close to production and assembly.

Pictures from production in Lishui, plus assembly on the rotary indexing machines.

In the machining hall the CNC machines stand in long rows. This is where the turned parts are made, which go to the next station in wire mesh boxes. In final assembly, the spear bodies run on workpiece carriers through the rotary indexing machines: station by station the parts are joined, with light curtains safeguarding the work areas. At the end comes the fully assembled spear, pressure-tested and marked using modern laser technology.

Rotary table of an assembly machine with spear bodies — Rotary table, final assembly

Rows of CNC lathes in the production hall — CNC hall

CNC machines in a row in the machining hall — CNC machining

Assembly station with rotary table — Assembly station

Laser marking and assembly in the hall — Assembly hall

Machining line in the production hall — Machining line

CNC lathe with wire mesh boxes full of turned parts — CNC lathe, turned parts

Overall view of the assembly machine — Automatic assembly machine